The Mummy Survives
by Katatonia
Summary: This contains SLASH! I felt sorry for Imhotep at the end of 'The Mummy Returns', so I wrote my own ending!


So...I own nothing! All Mummy stuff belongs to Universal or whoever. Certainly not me! Be warned - this story contains SLASH...but noting explicit!

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The group of them by the doorway stared at the drop in despair, and then saw two pairs of hands grab onto the stone, one with a wedding band on the left ring finger. Jonathan saw a blur dash past him just as Rick yelled for his wife to stop.

Jon kept his impetuous young nephew back by the door and the woman who had tried to kill them.

"Hang on, Rick!" He yelled to his brother-in-law as Evy reached the man.

"Anck-Su-Namun! Help me!" Imhotep yelled in Ancient Egyptian. "Help me!" The woman beside Jonathan glanced up at the ceiling and the falling stone, and turned, running as fast as she could out of sight. "Anck-Su-Namun!" Imhotep yelled after her, and then frowned as if he could not quite believe what was happening. Jonathan heard a woman scream from another room, and he shuddered to think what was happening to her. "Anck-Su-Namun?" Imhotep called, but no answer came.

The floor was shaking, but still Jonathan hesitated before shoving Alex towards the door and escape.

"Go!" He yelled, and then, instead of running for safety, charged towards the abyss, dodging falling stone. He was definitely not as graceful as his sister had been, and he thanked whomever looked out for fools and made sure not one stone came near to hitting him on his way.

"Jon!" He grinned in sheer terror and adrenaline as he dashed past his sister and brother-in-law.

"Morning, Evy!" He answered, and fell to his knees as he reached the edge of the drop, catching Imhotep's arm just as the millennia-old priest let go of his handhold, choosing to die because Anck-Su-Namun had abandoned him. Exotic eyes stared up at him in shock, and then Imhotep's other arm came up, both hands firmly clasping Jonathan's as the Englishman worked his way backwards, and Imhotep pulled himself back up.

"Jonathan!" Rick yelled. "Are you insane?"

"Quite possibly." Jon muttered to himself, feeling the last of the damned let go and Imhotep suddenly land on the floor next to him as the resistance disappeared.

"Jon, come on!" Evy screamed, and Jonathan struggled to his feet, stumbling as his exhaustion and the realisation of just what, exactly, he had done set in. A strong hand gripped his arm, and he found himself being pulled up and along when he stumbled by Imhotep as they ran behind Evy and Rick, racing for the exit. Jonathan rolled his eyes when he saw Alex darting out of what had been their hiding place, only to be herded in front of his parents.

Alex tripped and fell, but before Rick could dart back, Imhotep let go of Jonathan's arm and scooped up the little boy into his arms, not checking his stride. The group ran on, and flung themselves against a wall as they turned the corner and a whirlwind of jungle greenery passed them, including several pygmy-monkey skeleton things – as Jonathan had unofficially named them. Then they were on to move again, up a staircase behind Rick and Evy as everyone clambered away from the destruction behind them. They burst out of the pyramid and stopped, staring out in dismay as the jungle and valley disappeared before their eyes. Imhotep put Alex down, and Evy pulled the boy towards her, offering a shy smile as thanks.

"Up!" Rick yelled, pushing Alex before him and pulling his wife behind. Jonathan immediately turned; reaching for the next step up as Imhotep did the same beside him.

"This was not how I wanted to spend my summer!" Jonathan grumbled, and heard a low chuckle beside him as the two men worked their way to the pinnacle of the pyramid. He looked sideways, and saw an amused smirk on Imhotep's face. Encouraged, he worked harder; pulling himself up as the base of the pyramid began to disappear beneath them.

"We're trapped!" Evy exclaimed in dismay when they finally stopped, panting for breath. Rick pulled his wife and son close as, just along the step from them, Imhotep firmly planted himself between Jonathan and the approaching jungle.

"O'Connell!" Jonathan looked up at a shout, and grinned madly as he saw the air-ship soar above them.

"Izzy!" Rick pushed his family up, and all five of the survivors grabbed hold of the rope net that was fastened to the side of the rickety boat. They began to rise just as Jonathan, climbing between Rick and Imhotep, lost his grip. Before he fell too far, thankfully, two hands gripped his ankles and he looked up to see both men holding onto the net with just one hand apiece as they prevented him from falling any further.

"Jonathan! Hold on!" Rick ordered, while Izzy shouted above them.

"Pull him up! Pull him up!"

"Pull me up!" Jonathan echoed frantically, before something delightfully shiny caught his eye on top of the pyramid. "Wait! Wait! Let me down. Let me down!"

"Jon, it's not worth risking your life for!" Rick yelled above him, even as the ship was pushed closer by the wind to the top of the pyramid.

"Yes, it is!" Jonathan yelled back, just as his fingers brushed the ornate decoration. That low chuckle sounded above him again, and Jonathan grinned to himself as he got a grasp on the silver object.

"Right." Jonathan heard Izzy mutter faintly and then he was hoisted up as the whirlwind of sand covered the pyramid top and rushed up to meet them.

The next thing Jonathan was aware of was collapsing onto the deck to the air-ship between Rick and Imhotep while Izzy whooped and cheered, and his resurrected sister hugged her young son close.

"Yeah!" Izzy yelled above them, then hesitated. "O'Connell, you almost got me killed!"

Rick paused as he helped Jonathan up, and the two men exchanged a look of complete exasperation.

"At least you didn't get shot!" Rick reminded him, and let go of Jonathan's arm, moving over to check on his son.

"Izzy!" Evy interrupted the pilot's tirade and swooped on him. For an absent-minded librarian turned archaeologist, Jonathan mused; his sister had a definite motherly streak running through her. "Thank you!" She landed a huge kiss on Izzy's cheek. "Thank you!" Izzy looked temporarily mollified and then caught sight of Rick again.

"O'Connell, who the hell have you been messing with this time, huh?"

"You know, the usual." Rick sounded as exhausted as he looked. "Mummies, pygmies…big bugs." He emphasised the size of the last with his hands, and Jonathan grinned, glancing at Imhotep, who was following every word with a small smile.

"That's half mine, you know!" Izzy noticed the silver object and began stalking towards Jonathan – who began to retreat around the boat like the big coward he was.

"What?" Jonathan asked, knowing full well that Izzy meant the rather nice silver block in his arms.

"That's half mine!"

"What are you talking about?" Jonathan asked frantically, trying to escape.

"You took my gold stick!" Izzy yelled. Jonathan paused, and rolled his eyes – then dodged around Imhotep.

"I swear on the head of my wife, I have no idea what your talking about!"

"You haven't…" Izzy stammered to a halt. "You ain't got a wife!"

"I don't have your gold stick either!" Jonathan shamelessly hid behind Imhotep as Izzy came face to chest with the considerably taller man.

"We'll, uh, we'll talk about my share later." Izzy retreated to the helm, where he glared at Jonathan.

In an act of pure childishness, Jonathan stuck his tongue out at Izzy, only to be caught my Imhotep as the other man turned.

"You have no wife?" Imhotep asked in surprised – and surprisingly – fluent English. Jonathan shook his head.

"I'm just looking for the right woman."

To tell the truth…if Jonathan admitted it…he wasn't particularly interested in getting married. The women who were interested in him only went after him for his money, and were pretty vacant in the brains department. However, the type of woman he wanted would have nothing to do with him – regrettably so. Besides, he wanted a woman who wouldn't mind him disappearing every few months to explore Egypt.

"You have no fiancée? No true love? No soulmate?" Jonathan glared at Imhotep now, well and truly annoyed as the other man persisted in pressing the point. He may not have found the right woman, but there was no call for...

"Eww!" Alex squealed in pre-pubescent disgust as Imhotep jerked Jonathan forward into his arms and fastened their mouths together. It was by no means Jonathan's first kiss from a man – Evy and himself had been brought up in an Arab culture after all – and he automatically wound his arms around Imhotep's neck, dropping the silver as he did so.

He felt, rather than saw, one of Imhotep's arms fling out, and someone slunk off with a mutter after a thwarted attempt after his treasure. The other arm held Jonathan flush against Imhotep's body – while Jonathan found out first hand that they were both very interested in what was happening – and the first hand came back up to cradle Jonathan's head as they broke apart.

Jonathan grinned up at Imhotep. Maybe it wasn't a matter of finding the right woman so much as finding the right person.


End file.
